Sokoninaru - Shindaita FEVER (live report)

Sokoninaru
Shindaita FEVER – October 16, 2019
Live report by David Cirone
Photos by nishinaga “saicho” isao

Sokoninaru‘s sold-out two-man show (with openers Lie and a Chameleon) at Shindaita FEVER was a masterclass in power-rock technique. A sonic feast from start to finish, the group’s live sound is has way more bite than their polished recordings, and the night’s 16 songs hit like a combo of heavyweight punches with only the briefest of MCs scattered across the hour-plus set.

Watching guitarist Juko Suzuki’s nimble finger acrobatics up-close was mesmerizing. There’s such precision and playfulness in his movements across those strings, with perfect counterpart coming in from Misaki Fujiwara’s growling bass. Her signature move — switching from pick to underhand thumb strokes high up on the bass neck — has an afterburner effect in the moments where there’s just nothing but fury coming out of their instruments.

There’s a black/white, stop/start theme running through Sokoninaru’s live show — the contrast of heavy chords punctuated by sudden silence, strobe lights in tandem with thunderous bursts of sound, then darkness, then bright light. The pair share the same frail, faint vocal style which gives way to bursts of uninterrupted jamming. It seems almost improvisational until you see their lightning fast synchronization.

Bringing in “Gou ni Moyu”, one of their most powerful songs, so early in the set shows the group’s confidence — they know they can drop that bomb early on and still keep that crowd moving for another 45 minutes. “Less Than Zero” and “re:program” charged out with amazing energy, “Emerald Green”‘s mid-song guitar solo was a killer, and “Zettaiteki Sanpunkan” built up force like a 3-minute hurricane.

Sokoninaru
Shindaita FEVER 10/16/2019
Set List
1. Break out!!!
2. self connection
3. Gou ni Moyu
4. Rokugatsu no Sensou
5. UTSUNOMIYA
6. Hyouri Ittai
7. Saredo kijutsushi wa sai o furu (Lie and a Chameleon)
8. Mayoigo
9. Less Than Zero
10. Emerald Green
11. draw
12. Zettaiteki Sanpunkan
13. re:program
14. Tenohira de Odoru
15. indelible time
EN. Shinsekai Yori

Sokoninaru – Tenohira de Odoru (MV)